Only For So Long
by Sorlk Lewis
Summary: A dark and twisted look into what the future could be for Crichton and Aeryn...


Disclaimer: Farscape is © & ™ Jim Henson Productions, Hallmark Entertainment, Rockne S. O'Bannon, and the SciFi Channel. The Farscape universe and characters are creations and property of Rockne S. O'Bannon, of which I am only borrowing for a time. I have made my deposit, and should I return them slightly damaged, will pay for all repairs in order to return them to their original state in which they were loaned…  
  
Story Notes: Warning, my Scaper friends, this is a very dark, *dark* story. But this is what I write best. It's real. It's not some fake romantic interlude, nor fake words, nor fake actions... this is reality. Blame David Kemper... blame Ricky Manning... blame Rockne O'Bannon, if you must, but this is it folks. This is the stuff I write and it's, as David Kemper has said about Farscape many times, it is *real*...   
  
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They raced down the deserted street, darkness already blanketing the Commerce City and its inhabitants. Dust coated every inch of their bodies… it was everywhere. In their eyes, their teeth, their pulse weapons they carried so faithfully. It was a plague that could only be matched by their pursuers.  
  
Aeryn grabbed Crichton and shoved him against the wall, the both of them disappearing into the shadows as another Peacekeeper ran by. The heavy footfall quickly faded back into the silent alarms all around them. No pulsing lights… no blaring alarms like on the Gammak base.  
  
Peacekeepers all around, but not another single soul for metras and metras that had any idea of the peril surrounding the city. It was insane. And ironic.  
  
Taking a deep breath of the cold air surrounding them, Crichton closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the metal wall. "How the frell…"  
  
Aeryn quickly clasped her hand over his mouth… another Peacekeeper's footsteps approaching. As the solider passed by them, Crichton didn't move so much as a muscle. Fear of being recaptured completely paralyzing him as it manifested its self before his own eyes… she could only tell he was still breathing from the soft, hot puffs of air escaping his mouth.  
  
Once the sound had passed and faded into the silence again, Aeryn slowly slipped her hand from his lips and back to the pulse pistol at her side.  
  
Not daring to speak again, they communicated with a simple look… nodding in acknowledgment. Aeryn took a step back, allowing Crichton to slide away from the cool metal and back to their previous path.  
  
Utterly insane.  
  
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The jagged edges of metal caught and tugged at their leather coats as they slipped into the abandoned storage facility. Empty. Nothing but dust and grit and a handful of discarded shipping containers.  
  
Sinking to the scorched ground next to their entrance, Crichton resigned himself to hugging a drawn up knee, laying his head to the side. Exhaustion overcoming him, but that deep fear still burning strong and making him keep his sharp, ice blue eyes trained on the street outside.  
  
Rather than survey the building for danger, Aeryn took the spot on the ground next to him… her own eyes following the same trail as his. Neither one daring to move nor speak for what seemed an eternity.  
  
Once the light from outside had completely faded, leaving the cities dwellers to their own devices, Aeryn let out a soft sigh and laid her head on his shoulder. More silence passed as the two kept their intense gaze on the sleeping city outside.  
  
"We'll have to leave before dawn." Quietly spoke Aeryn, her breath stirring the short hairs on the back of his neck as she moved to sit back up.  
  
"You think… they got back in time?"  
  
His question was so soft and innocent that she almost missed it. She couldn't decide if being honest or not was the best choice… it didn't even matter, since he could see through her lie as if it were wet silk.  
  
"I hope," was her only answer in the end…  
  
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Daylight had come and gone more than once in the city that couldn't awaken. And again they crept down passageways, through abandoned building… hiding from the Peacekeepers that now coated the city like foul syrup…  
  
They constantly found themselves crouching in the shadows, hiding from the Commandos and wondering how in God's starry sky they would get out of this… both of them knew the answer, but refused to utter it to one another.  
  
The night was their friend, and time was their enemy.  
  
Crichton paused in his tracks… a sound. Distant, but very distinct. Ice blue quickly met ocean blue, a thousand words transpiring in the blink of an eye… no pictures needed.  
  
Swiftly, each of them took on a side, desperately trying to open locked doors with all of the wrong keys. Every attempt proving fruitless as the sound closed in fast… one of a tidal wave or avalanche. Knowing it's coming, but unaware of how close it really is until the force buries you forever…  
  
Slamming his shoulder into the cold metal now, he tried desperately to open the room, tried to dig out a safe haven amidst the insanity. Nothing would work…  
  
Aeryn grabbed the collar of his black leather duster and tossed him into the room she had finally managed to unlock… her own force pulling her with him, the door quickly hissing shut behind the two.  
  
He hit the ground with a thud, the back of his head smacking into the stone floor… Aeryn laying on top of him, her hand over his mouth once more… they couldn't dare risk a sound as the horde of soldiers ran past outside.  
  
When it faded to black once more, she rolled off of Crichton, quickly surveying the room they had ducked into for safety. The opening passageway to a complex maze of corridors and rooms… empty and quiet.  
  
Crichton shoved himself off of the floor, ignoring the pain in his head that instantly began to scream in protest to moving. Noting Aeryn's advance down the passage, he quickly checked the door, securing it before following Aeryn…  
  
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Their own footfall pounded in their ears in perfect time with their heartbeats as The Nothingness chased them down the abandoned passages. More locked doors and dead-ends accompanied by the feeling of the walls closing in on them both. They could only run for so long…  
  
Aeryn shoved open another door… another empty room. A fracture of light pierced the stillness through a large window…  
  
They flashed each other a quick glance before racing to the far wall of the tiny, cell like room. Crichton didn't even bother to try to protect his hand as he smashed his knuckles into the glass… shards and sparkles of it falling to the ground, mixed with drops of blood.  
  
Disappearing through the window frame, they scrambled to their feet once more, continuing their attempt to sprint to freedom. This couldn't be the end of them…  
  
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Ducking behind a container, they hid from the weapons fire of the Peacekeepers they could no longer avoid. Only three of them… for now…  
  
Crichton gripped his pulse pistol tightly, his knuckles turning white. Flight or fight… flight or fight… they didn't even have a choice this time. It was fight or die trying.  
  
He stood up without warning, firing off wild shots at the trio of assailants. Pulse blasts flew by his head, one striking his arm before he felt Aeryn pull him back down to the ground.  
  
No more shots. Dead silence. Crichton peeked over the container… all three Peacekeepers dead.  
  
Sighing in relief, Crichton sank back down to the ground, glancing at the fresh and bleeding wound to his shoulder. No pain, though. Only for so long…  
  
A gasp escaped past Aeryn's lips, silence no longer a viable option on her part… an open wound in her stomach, bleeding without remorse as she held tight to what little spark of life she had left.  
  
"Oh, God, Aeryn…"  
  
"I'm fine…" she forced through gritted teeth… this was far worse than those long cycles ago aboard Moya… this time there wasn't any hope.  
  
Crichton gently pulled her into his embrace, prying her hands away from the wound to examine it… far, far worse. She could only hold out for so long…  
  
"You're right… you're fine…" he mumbled against her temple as he attempted to hold back the tears pushing their way to the surface. He slid her blood-covered hands back over the wound… his fingers intertwining with her own, both attempting to hold together the puzzle a bit longer.  
  
Another gasp slipped out… breathing shorter, more rushed. Time was their enemy now more than ever, and they only had so long…  
  
Tears trickled down his cheeks now, no more barriers between them and the future… none between either of them.  
  
"I would be lost without you," he managed to choke out in a strangled sob.  
  
Her slippery, wet hands squeezed his tightly in reassurance. "Then you'll never be lost…"  
  
The hot tears poured fast and furious now… with each microt, each breath drew shorter and more labored… that distant, yet distinct sound again. More Peacekeepers.  
  
Aeryn barely registered the sound in her hazy mind… only Crichton full well knowing what was going to rain down upon him in short order.  
  
A coughing fit attacked her savagely… not much more time left… blood coming up with what little air her lungs could spare. Crichton brushing back the few stray strands of Raven colored tresses that had escaped her loose hair-fastener with his free hands…  
  
"John..."  
  
"What, Aeryn?"  
  
...only for so long...  
  
Fin  
  
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Author's Notes: Clarence made me do it. This, much to my chagrin, is… well; it is insane and pointless dribble. It's not meant to make sense, and if by some miracle it does make sense, maybe you can tell me what it is supposed to be about…  
  
Oh, and if you didn't like it, and now hate me for writing such a twisted thing, well... don't throw a trout at me for saying this, but... well, if you didn't like it, shoot me! ::ducks flying trout:: 


End file.
